Plateau Guber tussle: Why INEC should withdraw Lalong’s Certificate of Return – Sen. Useni

The candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the recently conducted gubernatorial election in Plateau State, Senator Jeremiah Useni, has asked the Election Petitions Tribunal to declare him winner of the March 9th, 2019, election in the state.

The PDP candidate also prayed the tribunal to nullify Lalong’s return and order INEC to withdraw his Certificate of Return among others.

Useni, spoke in Jos, through the Chairman Media and Publicity Committee, Plateau PDP State Campaign Council, Yiljap Abraham.

According to Abraham, “Senator Useni wants the tribunal to consider the declaration of Simon Lalong by INEC as the winner of the governorship elections of March 9th and 23rd 2019 as unlawful, undue, null and void, and of no effect.

“Senator Useni, together with the Peoples Democratic Party is praying the tribunal to nullify Lalong’s return and to order INEC to withdraw his Certificate of Return.

“The petition points out that the PDP candidate was duly and validly elected and ought to be returned as the winner of the election in Plateau State, having polled the highest number of lawful votes cast and having satisfied the constitutional requirements of the said election. It, therefore, wants the tribunal to order INEC to issue Senator Useni with a Certificate of Return as the duly elected governor of Plateau State.”

“However, Senator Useni’s petition also provides for alternatives. The first is that the tribunal declare that Simon Bako Lalong is disqualified from contesting the election of the office of Governor ‘having deliberately provided false information about himself’ to INEC and worldwide when he filed in his documents to contest the governorship election”.

It would be recalled that INEC had on the 24th March, 2019, declared the incumbent Governor of the state and candidate of the ruling APC, Lalong winner of the election after polling 595, 587 votes, as against his rival and candidate of the main opposition PDP, Senator Jeremiah Useni, who got 546, 813 votes.